The NFL is going to reject Tom Brady’s appeal and uphold the four-game suspension he is facing for his alleged role in Deflategate, according to one report. Stephen A. Smith said on ESPN’s “First Take” Tuesday morning that a source told him Roger Goodell will not reduce or overturn Brady’s suspension. Perhaps more shocking, Smith cited a separate source who told him Brady actually destroyed his own personal cell phone rather than just refusing to turn it over.

Attention, voters: Bernie Sanders is just like you, which is to say he’s tired of paying too much for cable. The independent Vermont senator and 2016 Democratic presidential hopeful joined three fellow senators Thursday in asking the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the “ridiculous prices” charged by pay-TV and broadband services. In a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, Sanders -- along with Democratic Sens. Al Franken of Minnesota and Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts -- said American consumers are being burdened by ever-increasing monthly bills and a thicket of hidden fees. Citing lack of competition and increased...

NBC has canceled A.D. The Bible Continues after just one season, Deadline reports. The miniseries, created by Roma Downey and Mark Burnett, was a follow-up to their record-breaking miniseries The Bible, and chronicled the early days of modern Christianity. A.D., which premiered on Easter, was positioned as an event series at NBC, but Downey, Burnett and the network had indicated that subsequent seasons were part of the plan. It's possible that the show will continue on another platform

Authorities confirm to Channel 11's Rick Earle that a man who worked at Kennywood was arrested last Wednesday on child pornography charges. Agents with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office arrested Nicholas Lancos at the amusement park with the help of Kennywood police. Investigators say they found child pornography on a computer owned by Lancos at his Greenfield Avenue home. Lancos was a seasonal employee who worked in the park's rides department.

A Pittsburgh-area school district is investigating allegations of harassment involving students. Several parents and students from McGuffey High School in Washington County have reached out to Channel 11 News voicing concern about a so-called “Anti-Gay Day” allegedly organized by some students. A group of students allegedly spread the news that if they were “Anti-Gay,” they were to wear a flannel shirt and write “Anti-Gay” on their hands. Below is a statement from Dr. Erica Kolat, the superintendent of McGuffey School District. “Yesterday afternoon, April 16, 2015, allegations of harassment were brought to the attention of our administration. McGuffey School District,...

A man convicted of fatally stabbing a Pittsburgh police dog has been sentenced to 17 years, 9 months to 44 years in prison. A judge said Tuesday that John Lewis Rush must also serve 8 years of probation following his release. Channel 11's Jennifer Tomazic reports the judge sentenced John Rush on each charge and the sentence will run consecutively. The 22-year-old Stowe Township resident was convicted in December of torturing a police animal, aggravated assault on the dog's handler, who was stabbed in a shoulder, and three other officers and other offenses. Police say Rush stabbed the dog in...

Two “Stop the Violence” organizers in Washington County allegedly beat one of their colleagues so severely that he vomited blood and was left unconscious in critical condition. Nikole Ardeno and Emanuel Velez, both 30, accused their former roommate of stealing their property, and allegedly punched and kicked him in the street until he had seizures. Arrested moments later, Ardeno was still wearing the same “Stop the Violence” T-shirt she had on the night before when she coordinated a march protesting two recent shootings, Washington Police Chief Chris Luppino said. The victim, Joshua Magraff, also is a community organizer with the...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania state legislator exchanged gunfire with a would-be robber near the state Capitol in Harrisburg, city police said Wednesday. Rep. Marty Flynn and another lawmaker were walking to their residence after a late dinner with other legislators when two males accosted them and demanded their wallets just before 11 p.m. Tuesday, police said. Flynn is a former Lackawanna County prison guard who is licensed to carry a handgun. He drew his pistol and fired during the attempted holdup. At least one of the two would-be robbers was armed, police said, but neither Flynn nor the...

For decades, free high-school education helped strengthen the middle class and generate prosperity. So isn’t it time to extend the same thinking to college? The idea might seem impractical, since college costs more than high school and higher education isn’t for everybody in the first place. Yet it’s also obvious that a high school education alone isn’t nearly as valuable as it used to be, which is why some researchers and policymakers are now studying ways to make college as accessible as high school for those who want it. College is free in Scandinavian countries and highly subsidized in much...

Right now in the United States, there are more 23-year-olds than people of any other age. This seemingly trivial fact of demographics is an anomaly more than 50 years in the making. According to U.S. Census data, since 1947, the most represented age in the United States has always been a member of the group born in the 20 years after WWII, the baby boomers. In 1950, it was age 3. In 1990, it was 29. In 2010, it was 50. [snip]

Twenty-eight years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, its effects are still being felt as far away as Germany – in the form of radioactive wild boars. Wild boars still roam the forests of Germany, where they are hunted for their meat, which is sold as a delicacy. But in recent tests by the state government of Saxony, more than one in three boars were found to give off such high levels of radiation that they are unfit for human consumption. [snip]

<p>According to the suit, Nizewitz signed on to the show before it had a name. She claims she was advised of the nudity, but was assured that all frontal and genital nudity would be blurred. During one brief moment, though, during a "wrestling takedown" of her date, her crotch was allegedly flashed on the screen without blurring.</p>

CARRICK, Pa. — A deadly home invasion was reported in Carrick early Tuesday morning near the set of a Hollywood movie being filmed in the area. Police said the invasion happened around 2:20 a.m. on Merritt Avenue. Channel 11’s Brandon Hudson reported that the victim opened fire on the two men accused of breaking into his home, killing one and critically injuring the other. Detectives said the men demanded the victim’s belongings, but instead he pulled out a shotgun and opened fire. Investigators said one of the men tried to run away after he was shot, but fell as he...

Block Communications Inc. said it will lay off 136 people at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and 131 at the Blade of Toledo, a decision that will help cut costs at the two money-losing dailies where the company has been wrangling with unions for more than a year over concessions. [snip] Negotiations with the unions over a new contract have been ongoing for a year, with Block asking for wage and benefit concessions after years of losses. In March, members of the Newspaper Guild “celebrated” their 3,000th day without a raise with a pie party in the newsroom. Block told employees in...

The broadcast network announced “an unprecedented effort to discover fresh comedic voices” on Tuesday by launching a national campaign offering aspiring comedy writers from around the country the chance to pitch their sitcom ideas. [snip]

PITTSBURGH — Students at Brashear High School in Pittsburgh will return to school Thursday, less than a day after a shooting outside the school injured three students. (snip) The shooting happened just blocks away from the campus Wednesday. Investigators said the 16-year-old charged in the shooting “planned the ambush” as retaliation to a fight that happened at the school last month. A.J. Willet was taken into custody shortly after the incident. Channel 11 News was there as he was taken from Pittsburgh police headquarters to the Allegheny County Jail late Wednesday night. As of Thursday morning, two of the victims...

Four Pittsburgh firefighters are suing seven companies that manufacture fire trucks or sirens, claiming they've lost hearing due to the blaring sirens. (snip) They're claiming that Mack Trucks Inc., Seagrave Fire Apparatus LLC and five other firms "knew or should have known the products ... were inherently dangerous, defective and hazardous to human hearing." The men claim they've suffered irreversible hearing loss "due to exposure to the intense noise." The firefighters are seeking unspecified monetary damages

EAST LIBERTY (KDKA) – A routine bus ride for kids heading to school became anything but Tuesday morning. A wheel on a bus transporting students to Pittsburgh Obama Academy came loose on Route 28. {snip} http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/09/04/school-bus-loses-wheel-with-30-students-aboard/

WILKINSBURG, Pa. — Police are detaining a man accused of promoting anti-American violence, although there is no direct link to any terrorist groups at this time. On Thursday, federal agents raided Khalifah Ali Al-Akili’s Wilkinsburg apartment and took him away in handcuffs. (snip) Jennings said investigators pulled Jihadist literature from Ali Al-Akili’s apartment and computers. So far, no charges have been filed.

Heavily promoted on their front page, a new six-part video series "Remake America". Looks like a freebie series of Obama campaign ads to me. A steady stream of what Reagan used to call "the poor suckers from South Succotash someplace". Boy is there a need for a Conservative search engine!

State Representative Bob Hagan (D-Youngstown) wants Limbaugh's show pulled from Youngstown's WKBN-AM (570) where Limbaugh's show has aired for years. Hagan felt called to start a petition against Limbaugh's "most recent on-air attack against women" on behalf of his three daughters and seven sisters.

Former County Council President Rich Fitzgerald legged out a victory over County Controller Mark Patrick Flaherty in the Democratic primary for Allegheny County executive on Tuesday night. Fitzgerald will face Mt. Lebanon entrepreneur D. Raja, who handily beat former County Councilman Chuck McCullough in the Republican primary (snip) The winner in November will inherit a county with a structural deficit of about $50 million, a cash-strapped transit system and a state Supreme Court order to conduct a property reassessment that's certain to wallop some homeowners with huge increases

NEW DELHI: A day after Senate Republicans blocked passage of an anti-outsourcing bill, Democrat-led US made a conciliatory tone, stating the issue, which was an "irritant" in with India, can be "managed". (snip) Sanchez would conclude his three-day India visit today. He said protectionism is not good for any country which, "President Obama knows better than anyone in our country". Sanchez said the US market is "most open market in the world". "But the key is not to focus on any specific conflict or irritant but how we manage those and how we take advantage of that opportunity," Sanchez said.

UNIONTOWN, Pa. -- Firefighters in financially struggling Uniontown not only won't be laid off, they'll get raises and a new four-year contract. (snip) Instead, the firefighters sued and a three-member arbitration panel has instead issued a binding order giving the firefighters a new contract through 2014. Under the order, the firefighters laid off last year will also be recalled immediately, and all firefighters will receive 3.5 percent annual raises. Mayor Ed Fike wanted to cut the department to save money. Now he says that the department will be partially funded by a $633,000 federal grant.

CALIFORNIA — Acting Police Chief Tracy Vitale has been placed on administrative leave amid questions over her citizenship. (snip) Vitale's attorney, Chuck LoPresti, said the acting chief was adopted in Germany by her American parents, and brought to the U.S. at age 3. She has always felt that her parents completed all of the paperwork needed to insure her citizenship. When she applied for any police job, she has answered "yes" to the question of whether she is a citizen because she has always believed that's the case. But in this case, someone has asked the borough to question Vitale....

The economy and the Internet have taken their toll on newspapers around the country and after years of layoffs and cutbacks, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is no exception. Now, the paper is saying they need more cuts just to stay afloat. At 11:15 a.m., 30 editors and reporters staged a walkout in protest of concessions that the company now wants. Those concessions include 30 reporters and editors taking voluntary retirements by the end of the week, or else they will begin laying off people themselves. (snip)

The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh this morning issued a special weather statement that warns residents across the region to be prepared for extreme hot and humid conditions Friday and Saturday. (snip)

WASHINGTON -- Two Pittsburgh-area television stations have put ads attacking Senate candidate Rep. Joe Sestak back on the air after yanking them earlier this week. [snip] Mr. Miller called the flap "one of the most ludicrous attempts to try to stifle our ability and our First Amendment rights to inform the people of Pennsylvania." [snip]

Port Authority expects to cut service by 30 percent or more and lay off at least 500 employees as of Jan. 1 if it doesn't get state help to close a $50 million deficit [snip] Gov. Ed Rendell has convened a special session of the Legislature to deal with a transportation funding crisis brought on by the federal government's rejection of the state's plan to collect tolls on Interstate 80. [sni]

The Mt. Lebanon School Board voted last night to approve a $79.4 million budget for 2010-11 that will raise property taxes 10 percent. [snip] The increase would help pay for the renovation of the high school, increased pension responsibilities and costs related to a new teachers' contract. The district expects to spend more than $15,000 per student next school year, up nearly $1,400 from this year.

There has been much talk lately claiming that “social justice” is a Catholic imperative. But just as Jesus taught about justice, he also issued a warning: “Beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15). By this he meant that evil sometimes presents itself as a good. Undoubtedly, words like “social justice” can be deployed in very dishonest ways. It is possible that people could use such words to cloak a very wanton intent. [snip] Catholics are compelled by Christ’s teaching to look at things like the recent health care legislation — cloaked as it is, at least in the minds...

If Allegheny County added a tax of 1 cent per ounce on sugary soft drinks, it would cut consumption up to 8 percent. It would also produce an extra $54 million in revenue that could be plowed back into anti-obesity efforts. That's the conclusion reached by 21 undergraduate students at Carnegie Mellon University, mostly seniors in the departments of Engineering and Public Policy or Social and Decision Sciences. (snip)

Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle, a wealthy businessman, is stepping in to help a local Philadelphia ownership group retain control of that city's two major newspapers. Gov. Ed Rendell said today that he had asked Mr. Burkle to help the current owners {snip}

Republican Tim Burns (PA-12) is once again going out of his way to prove that he is grossly out of touch with Western Pennsylvania. The latest example is particularly telling; despite the fact that middle class families are already struggling, Burns has endorsed a risky and radical plan deceivingly called the “Fair Tax” that would enact a 23 percent national sales tax on all goods and services including food and clothing. The plan would dramatically increase the tax burden for middle class families while only benefiting the wealthiest Americans like Tim Burns. In Pennsylvania, middle income Pennsylvanians would see their...

A majority of Americans supports increased spending on public transit and a slim majority is willing to pay higher taxes for it, according to a poll released today. [snip] Some 51 percent expressed support for a "small" tax increase to pay for better public transit, while 46 percent were opposed.

MONROEVILLE, Pa. -- The death of a Gateway High School cheerleader fatally stabbed 16 times by her on-again, off-again boyfriend has inspired lawmakers to take action. Demi Brae Cuccia's hometown resolved to not to let domestic violence happen to another young girl. Council members in Monroeville unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday night in support of the Demi Brae Cuccia bill, named for the teen killed in October 2007. The bill would mandate teen dating violence education be taught in all Pennsylvania school districts. "I would think it's a no-brainer that this education needs to be taught," said Cuccia's father, Gary....

JOHNSTOWN Â— Sadly, for Johnstown Chiefs fans, itÂ’s official. The Chiefs will play in Greenville next season after the ECHLâ€ˆBoard of Governors voted unanimously on Wednesday to transfer the home territory of the Chiefs to the South Carolina city. [snip] The news has been heartbreaking to loyal Chiefs fans who have followed the team through 22 ECHL seasons. Johnstown was one of the leagueÂ’s original five teams and is the only member of that group still playing in the same city. But economic hardships and the declining population in the region contributed to a drop-off in attendance

PRINCETON, NJ -- More than one-third of Americans (36%) have a positive image of "socialism," while 58% have a negative image. Views differ by party and ideology, with a majority of Democrats and liberals saying they have a positive view of socialism, compared to a minority of Republicans and conservatives.

An execution warrant for a former Mt. Lebanon attorney convicted of killing five people during a hate-fueled shooting spree through Allegheny and Beaver counties was signed Tuesday by Gov. Ed Rendell. Richard Scott Baumhammers, 44, was sent to death row after being convicted in 2001 of five counts of first-degree murder and one of attempted murder for the April 28, 2000, slayings. [snip] Baumhammers, who is incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution in Greene County, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on March 18.

A Pittsburgh ordinance designed to protect janitors from losing their jobs in Downtown office buildings violates Home Rule law. [snip] City Council enacted an ordinance in 2004 governing building complexes with more than 100,000 square feet of floor space. If the owner switches security, janitorial, maintenance, stationary engineering or window-washing contractors, the new firm has to hire the old firm's workers.

Federal legislation that could lead to a college football playoff tournament will move a step closer to reality on Wednesday in a hearing before a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection will consider a bill that would allow the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prohibit any bowl game from calling itself a "national championship" unless the game is "the final game of a single elimination post-season playoff system." [snip] The bill would give the FTC the authority to regulate the college football postseason with the power to obtain injunctions and to...

A majority of Pittsburgh City Council members said yesterday that they'll vote for a tuition tax, but that won't stop the universities -- and maybe the students -- from trying to derail the effort. [snip] Mayor Luke Ravenstahl gathered five council members in his conference room yesterday to deliver a message: We don't want to tax students, but unless the universities pay voluntarily, we have no choice. [snip] "If this tax is implemented, it will not be the fault of Mayor Ravenstahl," said Mr. Burgess. "It will not be the fault of council. It will solely be on backs of...

A farm in every Pittsburgh neighborhood would be one of the goals of a Franco Dok Harris administration, the independent mayoral candidate said today, as his campaign sounded its final notes before Tuesday's election. The novel proposal -- which would have the city assemble vacant lots and help gather the expertise needed to transform them into farms Read more: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/09303/1009555-100.stm#ixzz0VRy1TKRj

March 01, 2005 11:00 AM US Eastern Timezone West Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Awards Contract to Viisage for A Leading Edge, Multi-Biometric Drivers' License BILLERICA, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 1, 2005-- West Virginia Setting New Standard for Internal Controls and Drivers' License Security Designed to Improve Homeland Security and Protect Citizen's Identity Viisage (Nasdaq: VISG), a leading provider of advanced technology identity solutions, today announced that after a thorough evaluation of competitive offerings, the West Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles selected Viisage for the design and implementation of the State's new drivers' license. The new State license will include finger...

Pittsburgh was slammed hard yesterday by 6+ inches of rain from Hurricane Ivan. Massive flooding, towns under water, local state of emergency. Many people have lost homes and businesses, many people are hurting. KDKA Radio has live coverage in progress. Their new Liberal Program Director, Steve Hansen, is on the air right now. Heard him do this with my own ears about 30 min. ago. He took a call from a small business owner who was wiped out by the flood and had no flood insurance (did not think he needed it) Hansen went on to explain that a lot...